Ornamented shoe upper



Patented Oct. 2l, i924:o

UNIT

WILLIAM F. BOSTOCK, OF BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS.

`oRNA..ifiiiirrinn stron Urrnn- Application filed December 2, 1921. Serial No.,`519,t778.

To all whom t may 'co/acera.'

Beit known that I, WiLLiiiu F. Bosfrooii, a citizen of the United States, residing at Braintree, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in-Ornaniented Shoeppers, of which the following is a specification.

In the making of shoe uppers a practice has developed of ornamenting them by inserting-a piping in the seam overlap between certain part-s of theupper, as, for instance, between` the `toe cap and the vamp, between Vthe quarter and the vamp and elsewhere, or by inserting a. tape in the seam so arranged that justits edge is visible. Such pipings, tape '0r the like are white or of v some bright color contrasting with 4the color of 'theupper leather; ,but heretofore they have ,been lmade of textile fabric and so are easily soiled.A Infact, their designed decorative effect exists only when the shoe isy j showing that ymodification ofthe invention new, for, lthey absorb blacking, other dressings and dirt more. readily than the leather itself, and cannot be cleaned.

:The object of this invention is to produce a decorative effect of similar ynature but by means which areI not subject lto discolor-` ation fromthe causesabove noted, but are even brightened andV made more lustrous;

by the actions of cleaning and polishing the shoe uppers, and of which the decorativel character is more pronounced andy attractive than that of the piping heretofore used as above mentioned.. i

, This object is accomplished by applying to the exposed edges of the partstobe decorated" an edging which is crimpedV or squeezed upon the exposed edge of tliesaid part, or is lso applied to a strip` of leather or other material stitched 1 into the adjacent seam, that only ,the edge so treatedV and rornaxneiited edge is visible Said" edging may be applied ina continuous strip-or in a series Aof short strips or pieces placed end toend and fitted'so closely together that the joints between them, arenot noticeable, orv ,spaced apart, if desired or,` if desired, thev ornamental edge may be given the appearancej of a string-of` beards, either -by suit-`V ably indenting the strips vor strip sections, or by formingthe applied pieces in the first g place as beads yslotted to embrace the edge of. theleather Apiece and then clamp tight j iigures.

`to such edge. Suchornamentation may be l applied to any part of the upper, including 'the bounding edges thereof aswell as the seam overlaps between' tlieconstitutent parts V y of the upper.

In the drawings which illustratejtlije principles of this invention,-

Figure l is-a perspective viewV 'of the toe part of a shoe showing 'my' improved ornamentation applied to the exposed edgel of the toe cap. ,i 1 j Figure 21s a fragmentary cross section Von an enlarged scale takenv through that part of the upper to; which the ornamentationis ariplied, and illustrating a step in the linanufacture of'a shoe so ornainented.v ,I

Figure 3 isy afragmentary longitudinal cross section of the upper sliowingthe seam ornamentation applied to the overlappingH edge of the toe'cap. j j. "i

Figure 4 is aview similarto Figure j3 whichconsists in attaching the ornament'a-i.,l

tionfto a stripywhich 'is stitched-into the's'eam 'acter Vof ornamentation the Yedge ofv a yomar-ter in a blucher vanipshoe, illustrating also a modification of the invention adapted to: situations where flexing of the' vornamented part occurs yin the-'ordinary inodeof,l wearingzthe shoe. l u Like reference characters designate' the same parts wherever lthey occur in al'l'ofthe In Figures 1.andz2 a represents"the` fore, part ofthe vanopl of a shoe upperand Z) represents the ltoe capuwhich. is applied 'and stitched in'anyf of the usual ways in the vamp. The joint between thesef parts `ris ornamentedby a metal strip c which so,

curved that it embraces the' exposed edge of the toe capy and is compressed upon the leather which it embraces so that it is Vsecured by a gripping or clampingeffect. Y'In order to make 'the attachmentof this'ap-I plied edging material sufficiently" secure, its under edge, which is hidden in thefcompleted shoe upper, may be indented or V'cut to vforni spurs, or more or less similar-projections, ywhich either penetrate into,` the' structure of the leather, or indent it so deeply that the accidental dislodgment of the edging is impossible. The outer or exposed Vedge of the edging is preferably curled over toward the grain surface of the leather, so that it indents this surface also and increases the security of attachment of the strip, while the raw edge of the metal is at the same time concealed.

In actual practice the strip so made and applied is so narrow that it appears to the eye as a narrow band 'or edging' about one thirty-second of an inch in width.V lts visible width may be greater or less than this, but the ligure given is that which is preferred in practice. The value of making the strip narrow is partly that its ornamental eect is greater, and partly that the stitches .of .the .adjacent seam may be laid Close to the edge of the overlapping piece and the least possible opportunity given for this edge to be bent away from the surface of the vamp, and that a narrow width of the metal gives less opportunity for the needleused in stitching the inseam Vof the shoe to strike .the applied strip and possibly be broken...

An upper ornamented in the manner.

above described is lasted in vthe ordinary way, but after it has been pulled over and tacked, I preferably grind or kburnish off the exposed part of the metal edging at the bottom of the shoe in order to diminish t-he Vamount of metal .to be out oli` by the inseam trimming knife. The effect produced by such grinding is illustrated in Figure 2, where 0 represents the outer vpart of the ,metal edging and o2 the inner part which lies betweenthe overlapping leather pieces. Grinding away the edge part c at the location of the inseam leaves only the part c2 which needs to be cut off or may be struck by the inseam stitching needle..

lt may be remarked, by the way, that in Figure 2 have shown only the toe cap in section, omitting the overlapping part of the vamp at this 4joint for clearnessf; and that in Figure 3 I have omitted to show the shoeluing.

By using for the edging Suiijoiently thin and'ductile metal such as thin sheet copper, aluminum, silver, gold, or even soft iron, and by compressing the metal closely about the edge of the leather piece, it is possible to bend the ornamental leather around the last without destroying the smooth con tinuity of the edging. However, it is Within my contemplation to nick or notch the under edge part of the edging in order that it may conform tothe curvature of the shoemole readily; or I may make the edgn ing in separate, pieces placed more or less close together,v instead of a Continuous stille.

'rte construction "of edging in separate pieces is illustrated in Figure 5, where also is illustrated the fact that other parts of the upper than the overlapping edge of the toe cap may be ornamented in the manner described. In the latter ligure a represents the vamp and Z represents the forward part of the quarter of a shoe of the so-called blucher style, of which the ornamented edge is the lower overlapping edge of the quarter. In this case short metal sections e, essentially like the edging strip c, except that they are each of short length, are applied so as to embrace and grip the edge of the leather in essentially the manner above described. These sections may be placed so closely together that the joints between them are not notice-able, whereby they give the appearance of a continuous but exible strip; or spaces of any desired width may be left between them; or they may be made with the appearance or form of beads so as to appear as an ornamental beaded edge. However, whatever may be their precise construction and appearance, they constitute an ornamental edging which is flexible and so conforms to the flexing of the leather with the motions of the foot on which the shoe is worn.

Figure l illustrates a ymodification in which the metallic edging, instead of being applied directly upon the toe cap or .other part of the upper,ris applied to the edge of a strip f, which strip is inserted between the overlapping part-s of the upper and is made fast by the seam which connects these parts together. lSuchstrip is ordinarily of leather, but may be fabric or other material, and the metal edging may be a continuous strip .c or a series of sections like the sec tions e already described, according to whether or not the inserted piece is placed in a location where it will be flexed when the shoe is worn.

Ornamentation of either of the characters hereinbefore described may be applied to the overlapping .edge of any part .of the upper adjacent to any seam, ortothe top' edge of the upper or the edges of the lacing slit. The protection which I claim is not limited in that respect, but includes ornamentation of the character described applied to any part vof a shoe upper which extends over or around a part of the foot on which the shoe is Worn, in any of the Ways hereinbefore described.

I may use for the purpose and in the manner described, any metal, as gold, silver, or base metals plated with gold or silver, copper, brass, aluminum, iron or soft steel; or nonmetals having the capability of being applied in the manner described, while being free `from the objectionable qualities of the p ipugs heretofore used.

A" conspicuous advantage 'of the metal used is that so far from the metal being soiled or discolored by shoe dressing and the ordinary effects of wear, it is actually rendered brighter and more lustrous by the rubbing and brushing which are applied at such times. Shoe dressings not only do not adhere to the metal and are wiped ofi' by the application of a brush or polishing cloth, but such effect as they have is that of a detergent which cleans and enhances the luster of the edging. Nonrnetals used for the purpose are such as have similar qualities to metal in these respects, that is, are not absorptive of or adherent to dressing and cleaning fluids or the stains and dirt of ordinary service. That form of the binding which consists of a continuous strip also has a mechanical advantage when applied to the edge of the toe cap, since it adds to the stiffness of that part of the shoe and helps to maintain its shape.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A shoe upper including a number ofV paralleling the seam and gripping the exposed edge of a part of said upper, said edging extending at least partly across the Lipper exposed to view and being sufficiently flexible to permit flexing of the upper.

2. A shoe upper including a number of pieces stitched together with one of the conflexing of the upper, embracing and grip-l ping the exposed edge of a part of the upper, said edging being exposed t0 view and extending across a part of the upper, which extends over or around a part of the foot on which the shoe is worn.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature. f

WILLIAM F. BOSTOCK. 

